Large-Scale Analysis of Aircraft Transponder Data

The increasing congestion of commercial airspaces necessitated more efficient air traffic control (ATC) methods. The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) protocol is at the heart of the next-generation of ATC systems and is currently being rolled out in most countries. With ADS-B, an aircraft determines its own position by using global navigation satellite systems and broadcasts it periodically over the 1090-MHz radio frequency to ground stations or other aircraft in proximity. This approach increases the accuracy of aircraft localization and enables lower separation requirements and improved situational awareness for pilots and controllers. At the same time, it is supposed to significantly reduce the costs of air traffic surveillance compared with former independent surveillance radar systems.